IPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max introduced – the largest iPhones ever to feature lidar and cinematic photography
As part of the past digital presentation, Apple introduced new smartphones. In addition to the base models iPhone 12 and 12 Mini, flagships were also released: the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro and 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max – both will replace the iPhone 11 series of similar names (5.8 “and 6, 5 “respectively).
They also received 5G support and updated design with heavy-duty glass on both sides of the Corning Ceramic Shield (4 times more resistant to drops) and a stainless steel frame (it acts as a 5G antenna). Apple has stated that the antenna is the best in the world and supports the maximum range.
The devices received OLED Super Retina XDR displays (the resolution increased to 2778 × 1284 for the iPhone 12 Pro Max and up to 2532 × 1170 for the Pro, the brightness reaches 1200 nits, the contrast ratio is 2,000,000: 1), but the cutout for the array of TrueDepth sensors remains … Smartphones will be released in silver, graphite, gold and blue colors (the latter will replace last year’s green). The declared protection against dust and moisture IP68, as well as the ability to submerge to a depth of 6 meters for 30 minutes.
It uses the new 5nm 6-core SoC Apple A14 Bionic (11.8 billion transistors, 40% more than the A13). Compared to A13, the new chip is 50% faster in CPU and HZ tasks. The number of neuro block has doubled, to 16 – performance has increased by 80%, and in machine learning tasks – by 70%. The image processor, according to Apple, beats the competition by several generations, providing unrivaled photo and video quality – it works in conjunction with the CPU, GPU, and neural units for data processing.
The camera array has also been significantly improved: Apple has added a lidar to the three conventional modules, which we previously saw in the iPad Pro 2020 tablets. This sensor is able to accurately map the depth of the scene at a distance of up to 5 meters and receives information about the environment. It works indoors and outdoors and allows you to more effectively create augmented reality or perform other 3D tasks related to cameras. In particular, focusing in low light is up to 6 times faster, and tracking AF performance and bokeh reliability are improved.
The iPhone 12 Pro’s three rear cameras are comprised of the following components:
- conventional 12-megapixel module – f / 1.6 aperture, 7-element 26-mm lens in 35-mm equivalent, optical stabilization, 100% coverage of the matrix with autofocus sensors;
- 12MP wide-angle module – f / 2.6 aperture, 5-element 13mm lens with 120-degree field of view;
- 12MP telephoto module, f / 2 aperture, 6-element 52mm lens (2x zoom), OIS.The iPhone 12 Pro Max has a telephoto module – it offers 2.5x optical zoom, but at a slightly lower aperture (f / 2.2). The main camera is also better here: the sensor is 47% larger, that is, it is more sensitive, and also received a better stabilization for sensor-shift, which can perform up to 5000 corrections per second.
Smartphones now have the ability to save in Apple ProRAW format (the corresponding API has been released) – it allows you to combine advanced RAW processing capabilities with Deep Fusion and Smart HDR technologies based on computational photography and multi-frame processing. The video also became much better: it supports recording in 4K at 60 frames / s, and in 10-bit HDR mode – Dolby Vision HDR. Moreover, such videos can be edited on the smartphone itself. Director Emmanuel Lubezki filmed a short film to showcase the iPhone 12 Pro’s video capabilities – Apple showed it at the presentation.
Also, new this year is the removal of the regular power adapter and EarPods from the box (Lightning to USB-C cable only). This is hardly a big loss, but still, new users of Apple smartphones will have to buy these things separately. The company attributes this to concern for the environment by reducing packaging, but everyone understands everything.
But the price has not increased: the declared cost of the iPhone 12 Pro is from $ 999 for the 128 GB version (in Russia – 99,990 rubles), and the iPhone 12 Pro Max – $ 1099 (in Russia – 109,990 rubles). There will also be 256GB and 512GB versions. Pre-orders for the iPhone 12 Pro will start on October 16 and ship on the 23rd. For the iPhone 12 Pro Max, pre-orders will begin on November 6 and shipments on November 13.
